SIM Ep 764 Pod 219: Life under the Taliban, and a man on the edge

It’s a year since US and UK troops pulled out of Afghanistan, in what can only be termed a clusterfuck of mishandling. The Taliban wasted no time in regaining control of the country and, despite a lot of chatter that this would be a more enlightened Taliban 2.0, different from the brutal backwardness of the 1990s, immediately began restricting freedoms for women and girls.  Campaigner and founder of Action For Afghanistan, Zehra Zaidi, knows all too well how horrifically the Taliban’s rule has affected Afghan women and girls and, in this week’s podcast, she talks to Mickey about the direct, violent threat to their lives from the Taliban – and why we need to be doing so much more to help.  In Jenny Off The Blocks, Jen’s talking retirements galore, while wearing her best I love Serena T-shirt in honour of the start of the US Open, which marks the closing chapter in the GOAT’s career.  And in Rated or Dated – spoiler – Hannah’s not happy again, as we watch Richard Donner’s 1897 shoot-first-don’t-bother-asking-questions study of 1980s machismo on the edge, Mel Gibson, sorry Lethal Weapon. Same diff, innit.  Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/standardissuespodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices